Sparks fly
by Vanished Snowflake
Summary: Being a daughter of Zeus, sparks are constantly flying around for her...in various forms.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! This is my second fanfiction and I tried to make it interesting...but...I don't know what you guys will think. I guess you'll probably think it's lame...but I'll try anyway! *I can do it! I can do it!* Okay, so here's the story! Let the sparks fly!**

I'd like to say I was calm, I was composed, I thought things through clearly before arriving at some hysterical conclusion. Needless to say, I did the exact opposite and freaked out.

I mean, c'mon! I enter the dining room after coming home from school only to see a male teenage stranger on the chair next to my mom and the both of them were so engrossed in their conversation they didn't even realise I was there. The guy looked around my age and seemed to have two severe bumps on his head(covered by hair) as if he had been attacked by a gigantic hole puncher and been treated by a psychotic nurse who stuffed the pits with mountains of cotton wool to show she actually knew something.

The first thought I had was "my long-lost brother?" but then I noticed the pair of pants hanging on the chair beside the guy. Pants that I knew did not belong to my mum or me because they were brightly decorated with yellow stripes and a few polka dots. I'm one of those ADHD people who always get distracted so I was in the middle of thinking up a list of 101 Ways To Burn Horrible-Looking Pants To Save Your Burning Eyes when

the more sensible part of my mind pulled me back to the bigger problem-the disgusting bare-butted guy sitting on the chair I usually (but never will again) sat on during dinner.

That was when the hysterical thoughts raced into my mind.

RAPIST!

COLLEAGUE MY MOM'S BEEN SLEEPING WITH!

COLLEAGUE WITH A RAPIST BACKGROUND WHO HAS BEEN SLEEPING WITH MY MOM EVEN THOUGH HE KNOWS HE'S MY LONG-LOST BROTHER!

"What are you doing here?" I shouted and pointed to the guy as if my finger could make him disappear in a *poof*. Yeah right, Maylin. Be realistic.

"Woah. Maylin, hold on a second. He's...well...not exactly a friend but he's here to help." My mum told me before I could continue shouting crazy things like "Get away from my mum before I grab a kitchen knife and castrate you like they do to Zoo monkeys!"

I wasn't usually this mentally unstable but the incident at school last now had left me kind of jittery and for the time being, paranoid.

"Maylin, there's something I have to tell you." My mom looked at me calmly.

Please, please, please don't tell me your pregnant, mom.

"It's about your dad."

Please, please, please don't tell me the dude beside you is a son he left behind for us to take care of and that I've been punished with washing his underwear.

"Your dad is Zeus."

Please, please, please tell me where my mom is and what you've done to her.

"Um...Ms. Kee, maybe you should explain the basic stuff to her first?" The disgusting dude on her left told my mom's imposter.

"Okay. I just really wanted to get that secret of my chest 'cos it should be fine to do so now...since she's has to go to camp and all." My mom said and looked rather sad as she said the "go to camp" part.

"Don't worry Ms. She only has to attend until she has learnt at least the basic skills. She-" The guy was about to continue when I interrupted him with my signature "Hold on. Explain from the top."

The guy glared at me but then started reciting something that sounded like a speech. However, it couldn't have been a speech because it wasn't boring...more like psycho. He said something about Greek gods being alive and hooking up with mortals (he couldn't even use the word human!) and having demigod children like yours truly. Apparently, my dad is the one who gives out lightning strikes, not a guy who was struck by lightning and died as my mother led me to believe. Talk about ironic. He also told me about a bunch of other stuff like about this place for demigods to learn how to protect themselves from monsters called Camp Half-Blood, a big battle against the titans two years ago and how this was the reason a demigod with my parentage had yet to be devoured by monsters for so long. Because many had died during the war. But were now back from the dead to haunt me and eat me. No, devour me. I like that word.

"You do realise I'm can't possibly believe all this?"

"Oh...I don't know...maybe you want to give a better explanation for what happened in school today? That's the reason why I'm here to escort you to camp, you know. Monsters are always out to get demigods, so you people have to learn how to take care of yourselves." He spoke the last part like I was a baby and he wanted me to learn how to change my diapers. Now, if only I had a soiled diaper in my hand so I could cover up his irritating face. Wait a second. EWW...why would I want a soiled diaper to be on my hand? This Greek talk was driving me crazy.

"May, I don't want you to go to camp but you have to. Mikaleus here told me about the spinx attack today. You almost got killed! You have to go to camp and learn." My mom pleaded me.

"Fine." I muttered under my breath. Most of the time I was more stubborn but the fresh memory of the attack took my defiance away. I knew they were right. Both mom and...Mikaleus. Hmm...I was hoping he didn't have a name. I was going to start calling him Mr. What-his-face or Bob.

Then again, no one was stopping me from that.

So, with my decision to go to camp, Bob stood up and told me to start packing. That was when I realised why he didn't need pants. At the sight of his goat lower body, my eyes bulged and my jaw dropped.

I think I did a fairly well imitation of a goldfish.

**So, how was it? Ok? Lame? If you read this, please review and give me constructive comments...please? please? please? THANK YOU~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here's the second chapter. For those romantics out there who are wondering when she's gonna start falling in love, let's just say...SOON. Get ready for it. Do you wanna know who the dude is? The "familiar demi-god" in my summary? Use the review thing to tell me if you want a hint:D**

After a sad goodbye to my mom and a plane ride with Bob to New York, he led me to Camp Half-Blood. At first, I thought he was bringing me to a place in the middle of nowhere and was going to murder me to relieve the inborn killer urges. But then I realised he was a goat.

As if he could hear my thoughts, he turned around to glare at me. Hey, it's just hard to associate goats with violence. I mean, sure, they can kick your behind so hard you can't sit the next day and make it swell up like a tomato but ...okay, so maybe it was kind of bad. Especially if you were a boy and the goat was half-blind and couldn't differentiate back from front. Ouchie.

"You know, I could play a tune on my weedpipes that could turn you into a tree." Bob warned me, "Satyrs can sense feelings. I know you're either insulting me, underestimating me or planning to crouch down and start eating the grass."

"I think you need to work on that 'feeling' thing more."

He shrugged, "Eating grass is as hopeless for you as insulting me is...Actually, I have no idea why the two feelings feel the same...if they are even considered as feelings or emotions..."

"Heartless creature, thou understand not the meaning of feeling. Thy dictionary await you."

He rolled his eyes at me and led me to the entrance of camp which a dragon seemed to be guarding. It was only the third greek myth creature I had seen and images of me getting munched on by it flashed in my mind. I gulped.

"C'mon. Let me show you our camp director, Chiron." What's-His-Face (I sensed a need for change) beckoned me to follow him.

Fourth mythical creature. Freaked out nonetheless.

He has a horse body!

He has a horse body!

He has a horse body!

I really needed to have a talk with my nerves. After a near-death experience with the spinx, it seemed that my calm self had run away and gone for a permanent vacation. Just great. I couldn't stand my panicky self.

"Are you Maylin, daughter of Zeus?" The centaur asked of me and I nodded. A small grin spread across his human (phew!) face.

"It's a lucky thing you managed to get here alive." He told me, making me wonder about what his words implied.

"Your half-sister got herself turned into a pine tree on her journey here." Marcus helpfully whispered to me.

Chiron frowned. "Actually, it was the monsters that nearly killed her. Zeus turned her into a tree before she died as an act of honouring her. Turning into a tree was not what nearly took Thalia's life away."

Turned into a tree? That's what was counted as honour here? I rather accept those tiny sweets my teachers used to give the classmates who managed to stay awake during her lesson, saying "I respect your attentiveness" as if they had just sacrificed an arm for the life of another. I think I would feel much more "honoured" that way, thank you very much.

Looking at me, Chiron smiled, "Don't worry. Thalia is no more a tree. Talking about Thalia, I think a couple of her friends might be looking forward to meeting you."

As if psychic, a most probably 18 year-old guy ran to our side at this point in time. He had eyes the colour of the ocean, dark brown hair and a fit, lean body. If those bimbotic girls from my school were here, they would be shrieking things like "Dude's so damn freaking hawt!" and then start jumping up and down like they had ants in their mini skirts. Trailing behind him was a blonde girl his age who probably felt like she had been slapped every time someone in this world believed in the stereotype of dumb blondes. It was obvious from the look in her grey eyes and the book she grabbed in her left hand that she was nothing like that. She was quite pretty though, but not at all stupid.

From the way the two stood next to each other, you could tell

that they were together. If those bimbotic girls really were here, I could tell that they would be busy planning some petty way of getting rid of the girlfriend. I was quite sure it wouldn't have worked though. Why? Those girls were stupid, this girl's wisdom sparkled brightly in her eyes and this couple seemed like they had been through a lot together and that nothing in this world could separate them.

The guy's gaze moved from me to Mikaleus (I realised his real name was already horrible) and back to me.

"Maylin? Thalia's sister?" He asked me.

Well, hello there, stranger. Nice to meet you too.

Before I could reply, his girlfriend whacked him on the head. "She doesn't know who Thalia is, seaweed brain! Not to mention us!" She turned to me, "Sorry about that. Percy lacks some brain cells. I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and he's Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. We're Thalia's good friends and after Zeus identified you as his child, your half-sister Thalia, the satyrs and us have been trying to find you. It's quite a relief you've finally been found. Children of the Big Three-Zeus, Poseidon and Hades- tend to attract more monsters so we weren't sure if you were okay or not."

"Annabeth, Percy, " Chiron faced them, "Maybe you want to show our new camper around?"

"Sure!" They said at the same time and then smiled at me.

Well, at least this will decrease chances of me getting lost, I thought and followed Percy and Annabeth.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi! Thank you for the reviews!:D This chapter's kind of short and maybe a bit boring but don't worry, chapter 4 is much longer and I'll like to think, nicer. If you're reading this, please review it. Thanks!**

In the end, I was really glad they showed me around camp because it was much bigger than I had expected. Left alone, I probably would have ended up lost in some random place where, considering my luck, no one would have been able to find me.

Annabeth had transformed into tour guide mode and gave me a great deal of information (a bit too much, might I say) on every aspect of camp half-blood. Percy, on the other hand, told me the more important stuff like how you could get the banned soft drinks such as coca-cola from the stoll brothers and how the large hell-hound on the swordfighting was NOT thinking about eating me, as we walked around camp. As the two talked, I didn't say much except maybe "Oh." and "Wow". I'm one of those people who take a considerably long time to warm up to new people so even if I tried, I wouldn't have been able to make good conversation. I have to say Annabeth and Percy were really friendly though.

While we were walking close to the beach, I spotted a lone figure on the golden sand. His back was facing us so I couldn't see his face. He had black hair and was also wearing a black t-shirt, together with jeans. Who wears black clothes and long jeans on the beach at twelve noon? At first I thought he was some stupid suicidal kid who was trying to get a heat stroke but as I looked closer, I realised he didn't seem to be affected by it at all. I wondered what he was doing all alone on the beach. Talking about being alone, I suddenly remembered my own experiences of that back at school. I mean, I did have friends, okay? Just...one, though. I don't talk a lot until I've warmed up to someone so it's a bit hard to make friends. The girl who's my friend on the other hand, talks A LOT, which is precisely why we were able to become friends. I didn't need to say much, she did all that talking. Actually, She herself didn't have any other friend too...Not because of the same reason as me of course but because others found her very irritating. She was okay to me and I've realised how great a friend she is. However, having only one friend makes me feel kind of lonely sometimes, especially when I see others with their large, bonded cliques. I sometimes try to make friends with them but because I usually have nothing to say to them during conversations it doesn't work out very well. It's not like I was irritating, or a geek, or had one of those outcasts. I was neither hated nor looked down on by others. In fact, I had a neutral relationship with, like, everyone. It's just that I couldn't form a close bond with others and that made me feel like I didn't belong. Everybody else had their large group of friends and could increase it easily except me. It sucked, you know, lacking that sense of belonging. This was one of the reasons why leaving home for camp in the middle of the school year was okay for me. There was hardly anything in school for me to miss. If this dude felt more or less the same way I felt, then I could so totally empathise with him...

...and at that exact moment, two Aphrodite girls went to his side and put their hands on his shoulders in one of the most flirtatious ways possible.

Ahh...life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again! Thank you for the reviews!:D Here's chapter 4. Please review if you read it. Thank you!**

After the tour around camp, Percy and Annabeth brought me to the cabin allocated for Zeus' half-blood children. It was practically empty except for a couple of Green Day posters attached onto the wall above one of the beds. I guessed that was where Thalia used to sleep. Apparently, my half-sister was as lazy as me. The posters looked like they had been there for ages. They were dusty, torn (the corners looked as if they had been bitten by rats...I refuse to dwell on that thought) and there was a huge hole where the lead singer's right leg was supposed to be. I wondered how that had happened. Had the cleaning harpies (Percy warned me all about them) tried to pull it out but had lost the war to the mighty glue? Did they have a grudge against paper? Or were they just anti-fans of Green Day? Who knows who cares?

I chose a random bunk and slumped onto it... Okay, so not totally random. I made sure it wasn't the bed opposite Thalia's because I didn't fancy waking up after sleeping to see the Green Day singer and his non-existent leg staring at me. It was noon but I felt real tired due to jet lag from the painfully long flight. I closed my eyes and drifted off to slumber land...

"Knock! Knock!" someone pounded against my cabin door. "It's dinner time!" He shouted, making my eyelids flit open. I rubbed my eyes and briefly considered going back to sleep when I heard my stomach growl like a lion on a vegetarian diet would. Just great, I thought as I rolled out of bed. I was so hungry I could eat a Pegasus, wings and all.

I made my way towards the eating area slowly, trying to get myself to wake up and stop being like a zombie. I accidentally walked into this camper and she looked at me fiercely and was about to say something when she thought the better of it and turned away. Maybe she was scared by the dazed half-dead look in my eyes and my un-brushed, just-woke-up-from-bed hair which I guess resembled a crow nest.

_Camper, I'm hungry and I want meat...human meat! Muahahahahaha! Serve my... dietary needs!_ Ooo, scary.

When I reached the dining area, Mikaleus introduced me to the magical functions of my cup. I could ask for any drink and it'll appear with a never-ending flow. Needless to say, I just had to test it out over and over again.

"Cola." The cup filled up with the brown fizzy stuff. Check.

"Apple juice." Check

"Salt water." Check. Also burned my tongue.

"Watermelon and lemon fusion juice." Check.

"Polka dotted water." I don't know how I got that idea but it was at least better than saying something like...blood. Eww.

The cup seemed to take a slightly longer time to fill up but when it did, I got a glass of water with spherical multi-coloured small jellies.

It. Was. So. Awesome.

"Uh. Please don't try testing out the never-ending flow part of the cup. Please." Mikaleus begged me. I gave him my mad scientist smile and I have to admit, the idea was tempting. However, I decided it would be better to fill my rumbling stomach up with food, not drink.

It turned out to be a lucky thing that I chose to concentrate on the food. It was great and I hoped my dad appreciated my sacrificing part of it to him. As I ate, I looked around at all the tables and realised that each was packed with people, except those belonging to the children of the Big Three. I guessed that was because of the pact of the Big Three Annabeth had told me about. They weren't supposed to have any children with mortals (Great. I was losing my ability to use the word "human" too) because of the big prophecy Percy ended up being involved in. However, there was at least one demi-god at each of the Big Three's children's tables so I guess you know what that meant (Psst. Here's a hint, something to do with lack of...err...self-control. Yeah, that's a nicer word.) In fact, there were two people sitting next to Percy and they had those same eyes that resembled the ocean. The girl had red hair and was about...11, maybe. The boy was blonde and looked around my age. The hair colours were pretty much one of the only things that differentiated the half-siblings. There was something about their features that was similar but I couldn't really pinpoint on what it was.

On the Hades table sat a lone demi-god, all dressed in black and nearly blending into the shadows of the campfire and the trees close by. I realised he was the crazy dude I had seen sitting on the beach at noon. There was a sense of deja-vu, him being all by himself. I even half expected to see the Aphrodite girls go to his side again. Unconsciously, I even started comparing him to me for the second time, since we were now the only ones at our tables. Seriously Maylin, just concentrate on your food.

Okay, so only staring at your food was painfully boring. I took a glance at Percy's table again, since he was the only demi-god I knew at camp besides Annabeth, who was lost in the crowd at the Athena table. Percy caught my bored gaze and smiled at me. His brother, blonde hair swishing slightly in the light wind and reflecting bits of the campfire light, looked at me and did the same. Woah. Did I just give a detailed description of his HAIR? By the time I realised that act of insanity probably due to exhaustion, I had already smiled back to the both of them.

After dinner, I was SO going to catch up on my sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the reviews! :DDD Ok now, some of you might be Nico fans and I assure u, I'm definetly one too. However, you may be a bit disappointed about this chapter because it involves Maylin with another guy*gasp* Don't worry though. She meets Nico later(Aka next chapter)...**

After dinner, the campers had some campfire sing-along thing led by Apollo. I noticed how some of the campers had left for their cabins right after dinner so I figured the sing-along wasn't compulsory and made my way back to my cabin and my bed. In the end, I only managed to sleep a few hours more before waking up and spending the rest of the time staring up at the bare ceiling. That's what you get for sleeping at TWELVE NOON, Maylin... Okay, Maylin, so its not entirely your fault. The reason I had woken up was also because of this disturbing dream. I couldn't really remember it but I know it was something about monsters and running away and someone shouting "Jake!" so loudly my ear drums felt like bursting in the dream.

At around 3am, I made my way out of the cabin and headed to the beach. With all that staring and doing nothing, I was about to prove that boredom was fatal. It was something I had always wanted to achieve, except with another test subject. If I test it on myself, prove my hypothesis (oooh. My physics teacher will be so proud.) and die, then I won't be around to receive my Nobel prize. Ahh, you see my logic, eh?

Reaching the beach, I laid on the soft sand and stared up into the sky. There were no glittering stars but the moon was there, round and bright, shining itse moonlight onto the beach and giving it this silvery glow. I was always fascinated by the night sky. Dark, yet bright at the same time. If I were to paint it...ok, that's a horrible thought. If an artist were to paint it, the full beauty of it still won't be captured inside. You had to see it in real life, feel the sensation of getting absorbed into infinity and yet still safe under the moon's loving gaze. The sense of-

"Hey, you okay there?" I jumped up at the sound of the male voice who interrupted my thoughts. Turning around, I saw who he was.

Although it was night, the moon's glow allowed me to see him real clearly and my heart did a backflip in my chest. His hair was wet and he was bare-footed. Most importantly, he was shirtless. And he looked so freaking, awesomely...wait. How do I say this without sounding bimbotic? Great. Now I can't even think because of this freaking, awesomely hot-

"Sorry to startle you. I just, thought you collapsed or something." He told me with a sheepish grin and ran through his wet hair with his fingers. Acting like the total idiot I am, I nodded, making him raise one eyebrow, probably wondering if I really had collapsed, due to a hard hit on the head.

"Okay, I have no idea where that nod came from. " I tried to salvage the situation and it was my turn to look at him sheepishly. "And no, I didn't collapse. Just...looking at the sky." At this point, he grinned and I realised how that sounded like a stupid excuse. "No! I'm serious! I was being absorbed into the sky!" I realised what I was saying and very nearly slapped myself. He stared at me for a second and then just burst out laughing. Covering my face with my hands, I had the sudden urge to ask my dad to strike his idiotic daughter with lightning.

"Hey." He said and crouched down to take my hands away from my face. His voice was slightly shaky so I guessed he was trying hard not to laugh again, "I think I get what you mean. You find the night sky so beautiful and when you look at it, it's as if you're really, like, in it... in space, next to the moon and everything's just so calm."

"Yeah. How did you know that?" I asked in a tiny voice. He had crouched down in front of me and was now much closer than before.

He shrugged, "I feel the same way when I look at the sea."

With that, he moved to the left of me and sat. "The sea just makes me feel really calm. That's why I was swimming in it...I've been having these nightmares, so I couldn't sleep anyway." He told me and I was reminded of what Percy had told me about demi-god dreams. They were always about what bad things were happening and which monsters were plotting to kill you. Never that billionaire or household full of cheese dreams you longed for. Thinking about Percy, I also remembered what Annabeth had said about Percy being able to stay dry in water.

"Wait. How come you're wet?" I turned to my left and asked, hoping he understood what I was trying to say.

"I can stay dry in water if I want to but I like the feeling of getting wet. So, I let myself get wet."

"Ohh..."I said. Aren't my responses wonderful?

Awkward Silence.

"So...erm...I know you're a daughter of Zeus but what's you're name?"

"Maylin."

"Nice. You saw me next to Percy last now so unless you have a memory of a goldfish and you're unable to make simple connections," He grinned, "you should know that I'm the son of Poseidon. Name's Jake."

**Da da da dum...**

**Random comment at the end of the story: Who likes Jake? Who likes Nico even more?**

**Review?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi again! I know I said she'll meet Nico in this chapter but I decided to move that to chapter 7. Hope you don't mind..**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

After some time taking turns to ask each other random questions to form some sort of conversation, I told Jake I wanted to return to my cabin and left. The whole time at the beach had been pretty awkward, probably because there was ME. Ms. Maylin Kee, daughter of Zeus and bringer of all sorts of awkward moments, at your service. He was still a ( totally hot) stranger and in my world, stranger = awkward conversations plagued with even more awkward silences. I have to admit he was as friendly as his half-brother but I still had problems thinking of what to reply when we spoke to each other, so most of my responses were "ok.", "nice." and basic questions like "How old are you?" I appreciated how he seemed to keep trying to continue the conversation even though I wasn't helping. Even so, it was still awkward(hmm...am I repeating myself? Yippee.) and I thought it would have been more comfortable for the both of us if I left(see? I'm a considerate person). Anyway, I had swordfighting training at 7am and Percy had asked me to meet him at the arena an hour earlier to teach me the basic moves, so my limbs wouldn't get severed off or something when I practiced with the others at later.

After a quick bath to get all that sand off me, I sat on my bunk to scribble a few things into my diary and then left for the sword arena. To be honest, I still couldn't believe I was going to hold a real sword. You hardly see them nowadays, only those stinking guns. Urgh. I hate guns and violence and merciless killing. I mean, is it really necessary to shoot someone's life and soul down into the underworld? Hades must be pissed. No wonder his son always looked so...emo.(suddenly, I'm reminded of elmo. Ironic.) Poor dude and his holiday jobs. Talk about torture.

"Wrrrr. Wrf! "

I stopped in my tracks. I realised I had already arrived at the sword arena and I had forgotten about the most important thing. In fact, while I stand here like a statue, too scared to move, why don't you take a guess at what somehow slipped out of my mind? Let's call this game "What did Maylin forget that's gonna end up killing her?" I'll make it simple for you(because I'm such a nice person) and make it a multiple-choice question:

A) my shorts

B) cookies I had baked for Percy

C) gigantic hellhound that lives at camp's sword arena

Answer and Explanation:

Option A ain't right because I'm not that idiotic (contrary to popular belief). Option B is just ridiculous because first of all, I don't bake cookies. Cookie dough seems to have this grudge against me and whenever I put them into the oven, they'll come out resembling circular pieces of charcoal. I once tried using them for a barbecue fire and it sort of worked(tell you about it next time). Secondly, if I had cookies, I would be insane to share them. Cookies are so nice. Too nice. So they must be eaten.

So...we're left with option C! Which is correct! Duh. The hellhound was now busy chewing on something that looked like a dummy of a roman soldier. It was amazing how life-like a mutilated dummy soldier could look like. A few touch-ups here and there, like the addition of ketchup as fake blood inside the dummy and I assure you, watching what the hellhound was doing then would have made me scream louder than a twilight fan meeting Edward Cullen. Eew. Disgusting comparison.

I took small steps backwards, trying to get as far away as possible. The hellhound was huge. I could already imagine it tearing me apart, muscle tissue ripped away from bone, limbs littering the arena, blood tainting the floor, head-

"Warf!" The hellhound barked and looked at me. I stood rooted to the ground, scared out of my wits.

"Please don't eat me!" I had to use telepathy because my mouth wouldn't respond. I looked at the hellhound and gulped. Could I just be a bit lucky this time?

Nope.

It pounced in my direction.

**Random comment at the end of the story: Don't you just love Nico?**

**Review?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the reviews! I guess you all already know Mrs O'Leary wasn't gonna do anything and the character was just overeacting. Okay, in this chapter she meets Nico but to her, he's just another stranger and to him, she's also just another stranger. I'm gonna let them get closer slowly. 'cos that's how it is in real life and our favourite characters-Percy and Annabeth-took FOUR YEARS.**

Okay, so the whole thing was embarrassing. I had thought the hellhound was going to end up eating me but it turned out that it, no SHE, was just happily making her way to greet Percy who had come up behind me then. She didn't even brush past me as she pounded to the son of Poseidon who ended up wet with dog slobber. Woah. DOG slobber. Maylin, where had treating it like a monster gone? Time to correct myself. It was a monster, with toxic saliva that currently engulfed Percy in its poison and which also happened to have the name of Mrs. O'Leary. No! It was not a pet! Maylin! Don't fall for it! Mrs. O'Leary was probably an old lady the dog had killed! No, not dog! Monster! May-

Urgh. I couldn't help it. The playful way it was licking Percy was so pet-like...nearly cute, if you forgot about its size and the size of its teeth. I was still scared of it though. Scared of it but thought it cute. Same attitude I had towards chickens.

Percy whispered something into its ear and the hellhound bounced off to continue playing with its roman dummy. "Wow. I never knew you could scream so loud." He said as he turned to face me.

I blushed. Yes, I had screamed when I taught it was going to kill me. I'm not the type of "sentimental last words" person, more the "hey, I'm gonna die. Let's do something fun. Like screaming." kind.

"Don't you have a dog at home? Or one of your friend's or neighbours' have a dog?" Percy asked.

"My mom has a chihuahua." I replied, "But I think you see how helpful that is."

"Oh well." Percy smiled. "Don't worry about Mrs. O'Leary. She's really friendly and tame...ok, enough about her. It's time to teach you some skills so you won't get too hurt later."

He then helped me choose a practice sword and taught me the basics like how to block, hit, jab etc. It was funny how quickly I picked up the skills. No, I did not automatically turn into a sword master in an hour. It's just that it was considerably easy to learn and remember the moves, considering how this was my first time swordfighting. Of course, when we practiced battling each other, Percy won me hands down.

Soon, 7am came and campers started streaming into the arena for their swordfighting training (Percy was the trainer, by the way). I noticed the campers were those from the Iris and Hermes cabins so I heaved a sigh of relief because those demi-gods weren't known for any outstanding fighting skills whatsoever. When everyone arrived, Percy taught our class a few more advanced moves to attack monsters with. Some campers looked fascinated, some looked like they weren't paying attention and one or two looked bored. Hopefully, that was because they felt stealing the monster's money was a better strategy or something and NOT because they already knew those moves. If so, I was so dead.

"Okay, now I want each of you to grab a partner, practice with each other and try out these moves. That's one of the best ways to learn swordfighting-practicing it for real." Percy told us.

Why, Percy, WHY?

I looked around as campers happily grabbed their best friends and started practicing. In a few seconds, almost everyone had a partner. Except me...alone, so alone. I figured if I just stood there by myself, Percy would finally realise I didn't know how to get a partner(I'm kind of shy. I don't fancy going up to a random stranger saying "Hi! Let's be partners!" as if I had known them for years.) and let me pair up with him or something.

"Hey, pair up with you?" I heard someone say from behind me and I immediately turned, half hoping that he was asking me.

Dream on, May.

It turned out to be a Hermes guy asking a...well, another dude. He didn't look like he was a son of Hermes, nor did he look like he was from the Iris cabin. They noticed my reaction and stared back at me, making me blush and turn around. Great. Now, not only was I feeling lonely but also embarrassed. I heard a few mutterings from behind but I really couldn't be bothered. Let's cheer for Maylin, the girl doomed to be pretty much alone forever. Hip hip hooray.

"Hey...be partners?" I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around for the second time. It was the dude who the Hermes guy had been talking to last now. I looked into his dark eyes. It was only present in his eyes but he seemed to find asking a stranger to be his partner uncomfortable and awkward...but he did it nonetheless. Did he know how out of place I had been feeling?

"Er...okay." I replied and nodded my head slightly, feeling slightly elated that I finally got a partner.

The dark-haired guy then moved a few feet away from me and got into fighting position, practice sword held steadily in front of him. As I looked at him, a sense of familiarity flooded through me but I decided not to think about it yet and concentrated on staying alive. I got myself in the same fighting stance and then we just stared awkwardly at each other.

"Uh..."I started, though I wasn't actually prepared to complete the sentence.

He gave me a small smile, "How 'bout you start first?"

I nodded and sliced at him. He immediately blocked, hit my sword hilt so hard my grip on it broke and the sword dropped to the ground with a "clang" and then placed his sword tip at my throat. It all happened in what...3 seconds? I stood there, stunned, and with a smile, the guy took away his sword from my neck and motioned for me to pick up mine. Trying again, I tested out one of the moves Percy just taught us but this dude was too quick and experienced. In a matter of seconds, I was held at knife...er...sword-point again. It happened like this everytime I tried to fight him during the whole training session. Once, he deflected my blade so hard I lost balance and toppled onto the ground on my bum. Grinning slightly, he outstretched his hand and offered to help me get up. By this time, I was in a real sucky mood and thought "hey, why not?" and swiped at him with my sword instead. Being surprised, I managed to hit his sword out of his hand. I swiped again at defenseless him but he jumped out of the way. I tried another of the moves Percy had just taught us but he was too quick. He rolled, grabbed back his blade and...well, you should know what happened after that-sword tip at neck.

"This is frustrating." I thought and then realised I had said it out loud.

"You'll get better." He told me as he parried another attempted blow of mine. As I fought him, my mind started to wander off and think about other things even as I tried to get myself to concentrate. I noticed a skeleton ring on his hand which looked pretty creepy. Talking about creepy, I realised how the guy himself looked sort of creepy. Okay, so that was a wrong word... He wasn't scary or creepy or anything but something about him was...different...and dangerous. That was when I realised why he looked so familiar.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for the reviews, especially those who review more than once! Here's a pretty short chapter but also the beginning(after a whole lotta crap) to what's gonna happen in the quest.**

He was that son of Hades I'd seen twice before! However, I hadn't actually seen his face the other times and he'd been wearing an all black outfit. Now, he was wearing the orange Camp Half-blood t-shirt like everyone else but with black jeans. Strangely, I somehow knew that that was torture to him. Wearing orange. I could remember also finding him kind of dangerous-looking the last two times I had seen him. He didn't look gothic or emo like I would have expected a son of Hades to look but he DID look dark and dangerous. I mean, there was just something in those eyes that would give most people the creeps. And he also seemed to like the colour black but that was where the similarities to goths or emos ended.

He looked around my age but once again, there was something in those dark eyes of his that made him look much more mature. He had been through a lot more things than normal 14 year olds and those things seemed to have left deep scars...only present in his eyes if you looked closely enough. I think he hid more than he showed.

"Er..you're looking at me funny."

The son of Hades had his blade against mine but wasn't attempting to disarm me. Just leaving the blade there as he looked at me curiously and asked me the question.

Oh well.

"Clang!" I used the opportunity to strike at him again and nearly got him but then he blocked me. I just didn't feel like answering his question. We carried on practicing (and I carried on failing) until Percy told the class to take a water break.

As I headed to the edge of the arena where my water bottle was, Percy came to my side.

"So, how was it? Got your butt kicked?"

I glared at him.

"Hey, it's not my fault you paired with Nico." so that was his name... " Nico's a son of Hades and one of the best fighters at camp. I was suprised when I saw you two partnering each other."

"Percy...did something big happen to Nico before? Like something that really, really affected his life?" I blurted out suddenly as I thought about the look in his eyes. Great. Is there no connection between my mouth and brain?

"Huh?" Percy said, shocked. " Well...4 years ago when he was 10, his sister-his only family-died in a quest. It really changed him. He use to be a young, cheerful kid but that death affected him a lot. For a long time, he was very angry and sad and...uh...had a murderous grudge against me... During these years he's become better though...bit happier, I think. But I doubt he'll ever be the same. I'm suprised he told you something about that."

"Er...he didn't...intuition..."

Percy stared at me and then muttered something under his breath. He was either calling intuition or himself idiotic. I was about to ask him another question about Nico when I realised the son of Hades was right in front of me. We'd reached the edge of the arena where my waterbottle was and Nico was gulping water down at around the same place.

"So, Nico...enjoyed bullying the inexperienced?" Percy teased.

Nico smiled,"Hey, I wasn't the mighty senior counselor who decided to abandon the newcomer."

As Nico said this, something flashed across Percy's face. It was very brief so I couldn't tell. Guilt? Sorrow? It made me wonder who Percy's first swordfighting trainer at camp was.

In the meantime, I was just standing there beside the two guys as they talked. Talked as if I wasn't there. My right fist clenched itself up tightly.

Percy seemed to notice this and was about to say something to me when a camper came running up to us. "Percy, Nico, Maylin, Chiron wants to see you three along with the other cabin leaders. Apparently, something's happened. Something about Kronos."

**Random comment: Do any of them seem OOC?**

**Oh and you know The Lost Hero sneak peak of the first 2 chapters? That Gleeson Hedge satyr? There was actually a reference to him in The Last Olympian! Page 73, fourth line from the bottom!**


	9. Chapter 9

**And the action...uh...starts! okay, no fighting monsters yet but they're gonna find out what's happening that may concern Kronos. At first, the quest might seem simple and that's what the demigods think too...but no, nothing's ever straightforward and simple for them, is it? Thanks again for the reviews!**

In reaction to what the camper said, Percy gasped while Nico took on this serious look as if he had been dreading it but was ready for whatever was to come. I thought the reactions were a bit misplaced. I mean, I heard Percy had gone on a quest every year until he reached 16 and defeated Kronos along with thousands of monsters and pretty much ended any possibility of another quest. Hmm...maybe that's why he was shocked? Because the titan he taught he had killed(ok, so technically Luke killed Kronos. But hey, who gave Luke the cursed blade?) had decided to come back and haunt him only 2 years after he exploded or whatever name you give for that kind of death. I guess Percy had been hoping Kronos was never going to return or at least return after he and Annabeth married (a creepy thought) so he didn't have to bother himself with it. Nico wasn't suprised probably because he knew very well that Kronos had never died. Son of Hades much? I felt it was a cool ability, you know, sensing whether something had died or not. That way, you could always know whether or not to add a few more stabs to the enemy or whether a person put in solitary confinement with a teletubbies show playing had withered up and died yet without having to risk yourself going in. I shivered. What a horrible way of dying. We should have used that on Kronos, then there would be no doubt on whether he was still alive.

Following the guys, I ran with them to the Big House(I'm not gonna complain about the lack of creativity in naming it because I bet everybody else already had) and met Chiron and the other cabin leaders. It was sweet how I was now considered a leader. Even if it was by default and because I was the only child of Zeus at camp. Hey, I bet Cyrus was also made Hannah Montana by default(If you say it was because of her wondrous, beautiful singing, I'll punch you) and because no one else wanted to cast as a unbelievable popstar who actually hid her stardom. Truthfully, who does that?

All of the cabin leaders were gathered around a huge table so I just grabbed a random chair and sat on it, so did the guys. Okay, so only Nico did that. Percy not-so-randomly sat next to Annabeth. There were many gods so there were also many cabin leaders though I only recognised a few: Travis Stoll(Hermes) because Percy told me you had to watch your pocket in his presence, Katie Gardener(Demeter) because she was his girlfriend, Brittany Hills (Aphrodite) because she had asked me if my black hair was dyed.

"Campers," Chiron started and the room fell silent, "Two days ago, the gods had an important meeting. Hades had been feeling weird presences next to tartarus. However, whenever he checked, the things would have already been alerted by his own powerful presence and run away. The gods have also sensed similiar things roaming about mount tam. When Kronos was defeated, his remains were scattered but a larger amount went to these two places-mount tam and tartarus. The gods suspect that someone or something is trying to bring the titan back. Hades had set up guards around tartarus and so far, nothing had been found going there. However, if this really is about kronos, then the gods doubt that tartarus is the only thing involved in it. It is vital that we find out what really is happening and so, for these two days Hades will leave tartarus like it usually is and demigods shall investigate the matter. It is possible that without the guards, the things shall come back and you can find out what really is happening. It is a simple quest which the gods want you demigods to take on. Nico, I believe your father had already told you about this. He wishes for you to lead this quest."

Nico nodded solemnly as Chiron said this. I guess that's why he wasn't suprised when the camper called us. Being the son of Hades, it was best that he led this.

"As usual, before we allow a camper to embark on a quest, he has to consult the oracle. I have asked of Rachel to visit us today." Chiron told us and at once, a red-haired girl came in. Annabeth had told me a bit about Rachel and how the spirit of the oracle was in her. I found it kind of creepy. It sounded as if she was half possessed! All of a sudden, the spirit could just take over her and get her to start babbling some random riddle which she not only didn't understand but also had no memory of. Out of all things, why let yourself get possessed by a hundred year old thing that couldn't talk in a straightforward manner? What was the point in speaking in riddles?

"Hi!" Rachel smiled and waved at all of us. Well, this person sure didn't have issues with getting to know strangers.

Rachel's gaze swept over all of us but lingered at Nico. For a moment, I thought she was gonna bounce off to his side and commence a full-scale introduction of herself to him with tons of hair-swishing but then her eyes turned green. Still staring at him, she started speaking her prophecy in a raspy voice.

It scared the daylights out of me.

**Don't scream. I will post the next chapter with the prophecy soon. now, the prophecy is the only thing in the next chapter. I need to write some more stuff first. :D I CANT WAIT TO GET THE LOST HERO! BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S OUT HERE YET! oh and as mentioned before, a seemingly simple quest like this usually turns out to be much harder...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay. Hello. **

**Thanks for all the reviews. Here's the next chapter. It's kind of lame though...You know, I've actually been working more on this series of one-shots titled "everything". Please check it out after reading this:D**

"you shall travel into darkness

with sons of poseidon,

grey-eyed lover, lightning child who has much to learn.

You shall experience the dangers

of dreadful misconception

and realise that the oath

doesn't cover all problems.

Yet amid all this findings

fate's saved you the best

discovery you could make

when you're put to the test."

First thing that came to my mind:

Wow. This is freaking long.

Apparently, other prophecies had only been around four lines but this? Twelve lines? Were we seriously supposed to memorise that?

Second thing that came into my mind: Why is everyone staring at me?

"Well, Maylin. Time to prepare for your first quest." Chiron told me solemnly.

That was when the prophecy lines finally registered in my slow brain. "Lightning child who has much to learn" Nice. I feel very flattered, oracle of Delphi.

"Wait. So just to get this straight... I'm going with Annabeth, Percy and Nico to the world of the dead to check on tartarus, jail of the most frightening monsters and face possible death when I can't even swordfight without getting my asse whipped, have yet to even try archery and am a total doofus when it comes to greek mythology..."

I heard someone mutter something about the oracle's "have much to learn" being an understatement but before I could blush Annabeth corrected me in a soft voice, "Erm...Jake, Percy's half-brother would also be tagging along. The prophecy said "sons" of poseidon, not son."

I never knew the concept behind plural and singular verbs could be so important. Thank you, Ms. Chase...I mean, Mrs. Jackson (Hey, the two of them acted as if they were already engaged. You have never seen a teenage couple so in love before).

I realised then that Nico was staring at me with this curious look and as I turned to face him, he raised one eyebrow. I was about to ask him why when Percy decided to explain first.

"Er...Maylin, you're kinda blushing..."

My eyes widened and I noticed I really had been blushing when Annabeth mentioned Jake. My face turned even redder. When I heard his name, I had started to think back of what had happened last night and how I had seen him shirtless and how awkward our conversation had been, hence the change in skin colour...but the cabin leaders didn't know that...oh no, this couldn't be good...

I sat there uncomfortably as each camper turned those two piercing eyes of theirs towards me. Percy, you idiot. You're gonna get it from me later. I might just push you into tartarus when we get there...

"Erm..."Nico broke the awkward and embarrassing silence, "Hades informed me yesterday, when he told me about the quest, that he would be expecting the visit either today or tomorrow. He suggested that we get going as soon as we can so...you guys wanna leave tonight? It'll be easier for me to open up a underworld entrance if it were dark."

Annabeth and Percy nodded while the demigods thankfully took their attention away from me. I smiled slightly at Nico and hoped he could see the gratitude in my eyes. Last now, he had raised his eyebrow so high I thought it was trying to fly off to the moon. He was just as curious(suspicious) as the others about what had happened between me and Percy's 15 year old half-brother but he had decided to distract the others away from me anyway. Maybe, just maybe...I could forgive him for slashing at me during training.

Nah...Don't think so. My butt still felt sore.

Percy headed off to inform Jake of the quest while the rest of us filed out of the room to wherever out next training session was held. Basically, I spent the afternoon getting pounded by Clarisse in wrestling and nearly drowning during the canoeing lessons. When the day finally ended, I was so happy I could nearly forget the doom that awaited me on the quest. Hey, when you can't fight but have been called for a quest to the UNDERWORLD of all places, there's always doom waiting to consume you. Doom, destruction, deception and death. Ahh, how I love d-words. They're always so...cheerful-sounding.

I headed back to my cabin and packed a small haversack with extra clothes, a torchlight, nectar and cubes of ambrosia to carry with me on the quest. Apparently, these sort of things always got lost during the first day of a quest but who cares? I was going to pack one anyway.

After dinner, I headed towards the big house where the others had gathered. Seeing Jake, I blushed again but turned my head away in time(pretending to look at imaginary archers shooting at the empty shooting range on my left) so that the others didn't see. I couldn't understand why this was even happening. I didn't even know him that well! I sighed. Time to add another thing to my long list of the unexplainables...

**If you're reading this, please review. Thanks**


	11. Chapter 11

**Yippee. Next Chapter is OUT! yay. Please support me with reviews:) Each and everyone one of them is appreciated. Thank you. Do check out my other PJO story titled "Everything" too. PLEEAAAASSSEEE?**

"Hey, ready for the quest?"

I turned around to see, well, who in the world would have guessed? (ahem. Everybody) Jake.

"Uh...no..."

Damn. It was out of my mouth before I knew it. Sheesh, Maylin. At least reply with something longer or something funnier. But no, you just have to stick to your socially awkward self. Nice one. Now he's gonna wonder if you even are capable of speaking longer sentences like, say, "Miss Barter, may I please use the ladies?" Darn.

"Hey, two of you there... Ready for the quest? I'm gonna open the passage to the Underworld now." Nico, clad in an all black attire again, told us. Percy and Annabeth had already arrived and being only a few seconds away from possible doom, well, I wasn't exactly jumping in joy. Nico stretched his hands towards the ground and closed his eyes in concentration, as if attempting to make magic mushrooms sprout out of it or something. The look of him trying so hard amused me and I accidentally let lose a chuckle. Turning to glare at me(I assure you, you do NOT want to experience his death glares. Looking at those eyes would make you feel as if you really were about to die a real horrible death perhaps concerning being burned alive or involving a fat lady shouting "Off with your head!" ) he then proceeded to continue with summoning the ground to open up. Surprisingly, it did work this time, revealing a dark tunnel with a stone staircase leading to, I guess, the underworld. Apparently, he had only harnessed this skill of opening his own underworld passages recently. Maybe my laughing at him actually helped. Someone give me a prize, will ya?

Nico led the way down and I followed, right behind him. I realised that the back of his shirt actually had the design of a skull eating fire and I grinned. It so happened that I had the same kind of shirt at home. Well, of course it was of a much smaller size, considering his broad shoulders and my tiny

frame but it was the same design nonetheless. Hey, I am NOT gothic or emo, I just like shirts like that. I think they're cool, okay?

Sooner than I had expected, the dark tunnel opened up and we had reached the end of the staircase that I had very nearly fell down thrice from while walking on it. Two of these times, I had lost my balance in such a way I had to grab onto Nico's shoulders so as not to end up flattening my face. It was dark so I couldn't see his face expressions but I would guess that he was quite pissed. Like I care.

"So...erm...meeting with Hades first or straight to tartarus?" Jake asked Nico while slowly taking in the new atmosphere. Tormented souls wailing in the distance, wandering ghouls, dark...yeah. Welcome to the underworld.

"Hades has nothing to say to us. We Might as well start the quest already." Nico replied and started heading off to the left, where I presume our freaky destination was.

All of a sudden, a very loud bark was heard (Yes, a dog bark. And judging from the volume, from a really big dog. Oh damn it. I miss Mrs. O'Leary.) and I jumped in fear. It was probably from somewhere quite a distance from us but I still freaked out. Who was I kidding? I wasn't brave, I couldn't fight and I pretty much knew nothing about monsters and how to kill then. I was a liability to the group and I was going to end up dead.

On that happy note, I followed the rest of the group as they headed for tartarus, prison of the most ferocious and dangerous creatures of all time. If I was going to die, at least my soul wouldn't need to look far for the underworld.


End file.
